Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/263452
16 // VARSITY February 20, 2014 BY BARRY ALVAREZ // UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS BEHIND THE DESK A ll of us in college athletics are aware of the attendance challenges and improving the game day experience for our fans, and our students are a big part of that. That experience is something that we've tried to address for the last couple of years and we'll continue to address. I think we've been fortunate here and I couldn't be more pleased with our fans. Our student attendance has not dropped that much by comparison to others. In each of the last six years, under the current format, we've sold out our allotment of student tickets for football in less than 45 minutes. Last year, we sold a little over 13,000 student season tickets. Of those, an average of 86 per- cent were used. That's a very good number. If you go back to 2008, the number of tickets that have been used by our students has been between 85 and 91 percent. You'd like for the students to show up before the football game starts at Camp Randall, but histori- cally they arrive by the middle of the first quarter. The other day I was driving through campus and I noticed that everybody had their heads down. They were on their phones and texting and doing this or do- ing that. It's the same way during games. So we have to improve cellu- lar and Wi-Fi connections. We've talked about it a lot as adminis- trators. We've researched what it would take to install the antennas and we have a plan. We're moving forward with it. The logistics of doing what we want to do with an old football stadium like Camp Randall poses some problems. But we're going to get it done. It's the same deal for everyone. Just read Sports Business Journal and you realize that all of the vari- ous leagues ― like the NFL and the NBA ― are dealing with similar attendance issues. For people who have a big- screen HDTV, it has to be a great experience for them to leave home and come to a game. We want to give them something with the ex- perience they can't get at home. I agree with those who are say- ing that the students represent our season ticket holders of tomorrow. You want them to come back and be a part of the experience after they graduate. But I can't say enough about how our fans have turned out to support our sports. It was spectac- ular for our women's hockey team to sell out their game with Minne- sota at the Kohl Center. It really speaks well of our hockey fans and the support and the respect that they have given our team. Both hockey programs are drawing well. Attendance is up this year for the men's team, averaging better than 10,000 fans a game with good crowds expected this weekend vs. Michigan State. I really think it has a lot to do with Big Ten hockey. You now have opponents coming into your building that fans can identify with because you've played them in football and basketball for so long. When you're seeing schools that you're familiar with ― Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State ― it creates more interest and that has proven itself out in our hockey at- tendance. The Big Ten brand is very strong, especially in basketball. The league is ridiculous, from top to bottom, with all of the upsets that we're seeing by the road teams this season. Last Sunday was a prime exam- ple. All three road teams won and the two teams that had separated themselves from the pack ― Michi- gan State and Michigan ― both got beat at home. That was a great victory by Bo's team in Ann Arbor. I know we beat each other up in this league, but there's no question where the best basketball in the country is being played. Keeping fans coming back is a top priority